Prior joining Exponent, Dr. Thiele was a graduate student researcher in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at UCLA. Dr. Thiele applied his heat transfer expertise to the development of Phase Change Material (PCM) composite walls for Zero Net Energy (ZNE) buildings. He used FEA simulations to establish performance metrics describing the energy and cost savings benefits of PCM-composite walls and to identify design rules to maximize those benefits. In addition, he developed a novel numerical method to incorporate PCM-composites as a material option within a user-friendly building energy analysis tool developed at UCLA for non-expert building designers.